7 Little Reasons WordPress Sucks for Serious Bloggers

So you are ready to make a dent in the universe.

They have good ideas with the world to share, blogging is how you will.

For you too.

Of course there is more to have a blog than good ideas, but you have already made an important decision.

They go with Wordpress.

The internet bonuses like Jon Morrow, Brian Clark, Chris Brogan, Amy Marie Porterfield Forleo, Gary Vaynerchuk, Mari Smith, Michael Hyatt, and Darren Rowse Wordpress.

In fact, the more you read, the more it seems as you would go a full idiot with something else.

There are hundreds of professional themes to make your wonderful blog. Thousands of intelligent plugins add a variety of different features. And countless experienced Wordpress professionals who can help you when you go out of your depth.

So you are sure this is a Wordpress blog that you need but the big question is:

Where did you get it?

The Seductive Lure WordPress.com

The easiest way to get your own wordpress blog - freehand - is to create a free one on WordPress.com.

First of all, it seems amazing.

First, you get Wordpress guys that originally created Wordpress. It must be good, is not it?

Second, they treat all the technical things behind the beats that you really do not want to worry about yourself. This is a great relief.

And third, it's free! (Did I mention it's free?)

But while it is an indisputably sweet deal for some, say, less serious bloggers, there are some things you should know before choosing a blog about WordPress.com.

7 Reasons To Think Twice Before Deciding WordPress.com

Credit to whom credit is due, WordPress.com is a great option for some people. It's great for personal blogs, community websites and experiences of basic blogging.

But the reality is that to provide reliable service - free - to a wide range of people with different needs and skill levels, you need to lock things a bit. You just can not provide full wordpress.

So the taste of Wordpress you get on WordPress.com is dazzled like a wordpress. This is the equivalent of this security scissors blogging with rounded tips to give you as a child. They do not cut so well, but at least nobody is hurt.

And if you want "non-dras", there is often a cost. But hey, guys WordPress.com need to eat elsewhere on the table, like everyone else.

For you to start your blog travel with open eyes, here are some surprising restrictions you should know before WordPress.com host a blog there.

1. You are forced to choose from a limited selection of topics to "approved"

If you've ever thought about designing your website, you probably salivated you out of the huge selection of Wordpress themes specifically for you.

Beautiful themes from sources such as:

ElegantThemes (affiliate link)

Studiopress (affiliate link)

WooThemes

If you have put your heart on one of those, too bad, so sad. You are lucky.

WordPress.com does not support the overwhelming majority of the topics of third-party developers. So you have the best match possible to get out of the much smaller selection of topics offered by WordPress.com.

And although they allow to make some minor changes to their themes, such as changing the background color of the header or navigation menu, that's all. So your blog will eventually look like many other blogs out there.

Of course, you can enjoy the upgrades premium theme (starting at $ 50) that will give you a more sophisticated design, but you still have the same limitations to be customized as their free themes.

Unless you want to spend $ 30 a year more because WordPress.com is upgrading to custom design that allows you to change your fonts and use your own CSS for extra style.

Http://theme.wordpress.com/customize/help

2. You can change the layout of your website

As you grow and evolve, your blog is also changing.

The problem is that WordPress.com probably will not leave you.

For example, let's say you go with free hosting on WordPress.com and like everything on the topic you have chosen, except that you simply can not go mad placing your social media icons. You might want them to appear in your head and not in the sidebar.

If this is the case, you will be stuck as WordPress.com does not allow you to change the underlying structure of one of its topics.

Or maybe you have a little limited countdown on another site that would be perfect for your sales page. The only problem is that many of your own widgets like this with JavaScript and JavaScript are not allowed on your topic on WordPress.com.

Fun plans are not the only place where you can make JavaScript helpful.

Forms of opt-in e-mail from services such as MailChimp and AWeber JavaScript. Therefore, you can not use your blog on WordPress.com. Instead, you need to bind a form of opt-in email off-site, which could lead to a decline in the acquisition rate.

Http://fr.support.wordpress.com/code

Http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/AWeber-sign-up-form-breaké

3. You must pay various extras "optional"

While WordPress.com can start you free of charge, it is a profit-oriented company and on the ground, they hope that you will soon exceed the limited functionality of your blog for free and pays for some of their features.

I mentioned premium topics but here are some other improvements paid WordPress.com offer:

Do you want a custom domain name?

For $ 13 per year, you can host your website on your own domain instead of a subdomain of WordPress.com, which is to say yourblog.com, instead of yourblog.wordpress.com

You need a little more space for your blog?

Starting at $ 20 per year, you can add more space to 3 GB you get free of charge. 3GB may seem a lot, but you can only upload images, documents, tables and presentations. You can not download audio files without updating the room. (So ​​it's your podcast from the window.) Https://fr.support.wordpress.com/space-upgrade

Want to host videos directly on your blog?

This will cost you an extra $ 60 per year and you can not download any video files without the upgrade, even if you paid extra space. Without the upgrade, you need to host your videos on an external site like YouTube or Vimeo and embed these videos on your blog. What could be good but it does not look professional like your own vidéo.http player with: //en.support.wordpress.com/videopress

Http://en.support.wordpress.com/videos

Do not want third ads to appear on your blog?

WordPress.com reserves the right to display ads on your website. But for an extra $ 30 a year, you can get the "No Advertising" and keep a blog without advertising. But even if you have this upgrade, you need to get copyright links like Blog on WordPress.com "on your website. By WordPress.com: "All bloggers WordPress.com are obliged to maintain credit connections, also our VIP blogger." Http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design

For the serious blogger, many of these paid upgrades are not optional. You really need to avoid if you want to look like a total amateur.

Http://store.wordpress.com

4. You will manage your own domain e-mail

Web email providers like Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail are available for your personal emails. But for your professional e-mail communication, you will be a company of brand e-mail as "yourname@yourdomain.com" want people to show that you are serious about it.

Unfortunately, WordPress.com did not offer e-mail hosting. Therefore, you must configure your e-mail hosting outside of WordPress.com.

To give you an example of pricing, GoDaddy provides email for $ 7 per month hosting for up to 10 emails. If you need more e-mail accounts, an additional fee will be charged.

If you choose your blog elsewhere than WordPress.com, e-mail hosting typically comes in your web hosting package. There are no additional fees. You can set up an unlimited number of e-mail brand of the company, quickly and easily from your web hosting table edge. It is a one-stop shop.

Http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/add-email

5. You can not make money with other people's products

If you are making money by planning affiliate links on your blog, then you are lucky because WordPress.com does not allow you.

As mentioned on WordPress.com, the exception would be if you write an original book, movie or magazine and a link to Amazon "or" a link to your products on ETSY. "But it's pretty restrictive.

If WordPress.com can place you affiliate links on your blog, even if you think you are playing according to the rules, your punishment could be one of the following: (a) you could disable your links, (b) they could get a warning Advise you affiliate links or (c) remove them, just block your account and close you.

Http://fr.wordpress.com/types-of-blogs

Http://fr.support.wordpress.com/affiliate-links

6. You are not able to use custom plugins

A plugin is a software module that gives you "connect" to Wordpress a blog to add additional features. No knowledge of coding required to install and use a plugin - just a few clicks.

You can get plugins using SEO plugins for a backup of your blog, plugins to create custom forms, plugins to improve the speed of your blog, plugins to create membership sites. The list is huge. Currently, the number of Wordpress plugins available by independent developers 27 000 account.

But for security reasons, you are not allowed to use third-party plug-ins when you host your website on WordPress.com for free.

The possibility to use your own plugins for other functions is one of the great strengths of Wordpress. Without individual plugins, you have crippled Wordpress seriously.

However, you have the option to update the VIP hosting package WordPress.com, which starts 750 / month (no bad impression) at just $ 3. Then they will be glad to use plugins. It's good.

Http://vip.wordpress.com/contact/

7. Your blog could be closed at any time.

This surpasses all others.

When you host your blog on WordPress.com, the terms of use (TOS) show very clearly that WordPress.com "can terminate your access to all or part of the site at any time with or without reason, with or without notice, immediately effective. "

You might think you run a rustic blog and you never approach an injury to the TOS, but do you really want to give someone much control over your life?

Mistakes are made. Accidents happen. And your blog could be arrested. Fair or not, it's part of the deal when you host your website on WordPress.com.

For the more serious bloggers, the possibility of an unintentional TOS injury (regardless of distance) and the sudden stop is reason enough to find elsewhere. Why leave the door open, even a crack? This does not bother you.

Http://en.wordpress.com/tos

The clever alternative for bloggers who really mean serious

While WordPress.com certainly makes it easy to get a Wordpress blog running, you have to wonder if you can stand the compromises that accompany it.

It's like a brand new Ferrari and with you it was said that you can drive only 30 hours. And only on the weekends.

But fortunately there is an alternative: self-hosted Wordpress.

And it is not as dangerous as some people you would like to believe.

What the heck is "self-hosted" wordpress?

Standalone Wordpress simply means that you install the free Wordpress software on your own web server rather than make WordPress.com host your blog for you.

And when I say your own web server, I do not mean a supercomputer and hiding it in your garage to buy. I'm just talking about hosting service from a reputable web host hundreds of buy there.

So do not worry if you're not a technician. It really is not that hard to self-host.

There are many tutorials on the web to organize your blog. And if you encounter an obstacle, there are many affordable wordpress specialists available online.

For the self host of your blog, all you have to do is get a hosting account from a company like Siteground (affiliate link - 25% discount with the coupon BOOSTBLOGTRAFFIC25) which costs less than $ 10 per month.

And because Wordpress is so popular, many hosts have preconfigured "1-click" facilities that allow you to install Wordpress on your Web server in less than 10 minutes.

What kind of bloggers would you be?

It all comes down to this.

What you do with your website and what kind of blogger would you be?

If all you want is a place to express yourself on the internet, a free blog on WordPress.com is probably fine.

But if your goal is to take seriously as a blogger and ultimately make money with your blog, you need discipline to do what you want with your blog. That means, with the ability to change the layout, add custom plug-in, or install opt-in-box mail to your site.

And the only way to do these things is to organize your blog.

But not just on my word.

Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg, summarizes the difference between WordPress.com and self-hosted Wordpress blog like this:

Hosting your website on WordPress.com is like renting a home, unlike a Wordpress blog itself, you own directly.

With a Wordpress self-hosted blog, you can do whatever you want. Break the walls. Redécortez it as you please. But you are also responsible for the maintenance. (That is, the security update, backups, functionality level updates)

While at WordPress.com everything is done for you. But you lose some control. I can not have a yard. Can not destroy walls, etc.

Http://wordpress.tv/2009/10/29/matt-mullenweg-wordpress-now

So would you rent or own your blog?

The Bottom Line

If you are serious about blogging, you need to have the freedom and control to do what you want, but you want to be without worries that you suddenly hit a wall or the carpet might be arbitrarily removed from you.

And the only way to ensure that your Wordpress blog is automatically hosted.

This is another decision.

It's time to do this delle in the Universe.